Morituri Blu-ray - Marlon Brando

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'The Saboteur, Code Name Morituri')

Directed by Bernhard Wicki
USA 1965

Fabulous suspense atmosphere with Marlon Brando playing a 'bon vivont' conscientious objector, named Robert Crain, who is blackmailed into a mission to divert a cargo ship, with 7,000 tons of valuable wartime rubber out of German hands and toward the Allies. He poses as an SS officer taking passage on the discreetly camouflaged German ship which is helmed by Capt. Rolf Mueller (Yul Brenner). The dramatic irony in this film by German actor-director Bernhard Wicki is that Crain (Brando), who exudes pride at professing pacifism, goes to extremes to personally sacrifice for the moral betterment. Perhaps unduly affected by a speech by prisoner Esther Levy (Janet Margolin) he obviously succumbs to his own masked principles. This is a beautiful atmospheric war drama hinting at morality and driven by amazing performances. One of the best of its kind that I have ever seen.

Posters

Theatrical Release: August 25th, 1965

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Comparison:

20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray

1) Twentieth Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT

2) Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Cover

Also available in The Heroes of War Collection - Naval Battles which also includes The Enemy Below, The Frogmen, and Sink the Bismarck!

Distribution

20th Century Fox Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC

Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Runtime

2:03:04

2:03:16.430

Video

1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 7.34 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 35,362,486,247 bytes

Feature: 35,121,647,616 bytes

Video Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Bitrate: Blu-ray

Audio

English (Dolby Digital 2.0) English (Mono) DUB: Spanish (Mono)

DTS-HD Master Audio English 2072 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2072 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1583 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1583 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Isolated Score:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1924 kbps 3.0 / 48 kHz / 1924 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 3.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

Subtitles

English, Spanish, None

English, None

Features

Release Information:
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Video

Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1

Edition Details:

• Trailers
• Fox Flix trailers

DVD Release Date: May 25th, 2004
Keep Case
Chapters: 24

Release Information:
Studio: Twilight Time

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 35,362,486,247 bytes

Feature: 35,121,647,616 bytes

Video Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Edition Details:

• Isolated Music Track

• Original Theatrical Trailer (03:17) / Teaser Trailer (00:25)

Blu-ray Release Date: May, 2019
Transparent Blu-ray Case

Chapters 24

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Twilight Time Blu-ray (June 2019): Bernhard Wicki's 1965 suspense thriller, "Morituri" has arrived on Blu-ray, thanks to Twilight Time. This dual-layered disc holds the 2-hour 1080p film with a high bitrate. The black and white contrast benefits from the brilliant cinematography (Conrad L. Hall of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "Cool Hand Luke" fame) and dramatic lighting within the 1.85:1 frame. The image tends to show quite a bit of fine detail, especially in close-up shots. There are still some rather prominent instances of damage, with large scratches and tears in certain frames. The other issue here (albeit a minor one to most) is the occasional sequence featuring the B&W photography go to a greenish and then a purplish hue, all within the same scene. This was a little jarring, but most likely due to the film stock being used, and possibly a lack of restoration work. We have included animated gifs below that show this condition. To be fair, I could count the number of times this happens throughout the film on one hand. To have this beautifully shot Brando/Brynner thriller in 1080p is a treat.

NOTE: We have added 30 more large resolution Blu-ray captures for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE.

There are a few options in the audio department. The film has the option of either English 2.0 or 1.0 DTS-HD Master audio. As a welcomed bonus, the film can be viewed with the isolated music track as well, in 3.0 DTS-HD. "Morituri"'s score is thanks to the prolific Jerry Goldsmith (Link, Breakout, The Salamander, The Mephisto Waltz, Seconds, Hoosiers, The Blue Max, Breakheart Pass, The Omen). There are optional English subtitles on this Region 'Free' Blu-ray from Twilight Time.

Aside from the option of listening to the film with an isolated music track, the only extras here are the original theatrical and teaser trailer.

While the subject matter certainly ain't new, "Morituri"'s black & white photography is stunning. Add to that the acting of Brando and Brynner, and you've got yourself a great film. Twilight Time's Blu-ray surely has the occasional image faults, but as a whole it is leaps and bounds ahead of the previous DVD release. Until some unforeseen restoration work, this Blu-ray is absolutely worth picking up.

Colin Zavitz

***

A very strong image from Fox from this 1965 anti-war classic. Contrast and detail are at a high standard with the image tight to the frames edges and in the original aspect ratio of 1.85. I don't recall seeing any damage, prevalent digital noise or artifacts - certainly know that impinged upon my viewing. My only complaint is that the optional subtitles are yellow. No extras save some trailers.

I was left very impressed with this film and Brando's performance. Fox has given us another extremely reasonably priced DVD of an under-rated film. We strongly recommend!

Gary W. Tooze

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